The Light Effect
by TheCivilState
Summary: Kol's mistakes were always costing him the people he cared about the most.


_Happiness, is just outside my window_

"Kol, are you not coming?" He looked outside the window to see Aria, Tatia's cousin, gesturing for him to join as Rebekah impatiently waited with Niklaus.

"You must come," Aria insisted before running into the house and latching her arm with his, "I insist." Kol allowed her to drag him away from his chores and into the forest. They were going to the abandoned home on the outskirt of the village. Rumor had it an old witch once lived in the home and that her spirit still haunted it.

"I should like to haunt a place," Aria said, "Perhaps I could remain there forever until someone fetched me away."

"That would most certainly be a lonely existence," Kol argued, but the young blonde at his side merely laughed at him.

"Not so, my star eyed boy," she said, "I would have the sun for company and the rain for music. I would dance for eternity and it would be lovely."

"But you would be dead." Her brow furrowed and she tapped her forefinger against her chin as she puzzled over her quandary. Up ahead, Niklaus was chasing Rebekah who had stolen his favorite dagger.

"Perhaps I shall live forever a different way," Aria said, "Perhaps I shall live a thousand lifetimes, always being reborn at the end of each. That way I may live as a child, a woman, and an old lady again and again."

"Would that not become tiresome?" Kol asked, "And what if life was a miserable experience again and again?"

"Aha," she said, "But I would maintain my memories from my past lives. I would learn from my errors, you see, and live a perfect life. And once I lived that perfect life, then I would die in a complete, definite sort of way."

Kol smiled down at her, finally taller than her after years of being teased by Niklaus and Elijah that he was shorter than the smallest girl in the village. Aria rested her head on his shoulder and he dropped a kiss to her forehead. Sometimes, he wished Aria had been his sister and not Rebekah. Perhaps that was because Niklaus was Rebekah's favorite and Kol was not the favorite of any. Perhaps if he became a terrifying warrior is father would prefer him to Elijah. Perhaps.

"The same shall happen to you," Aria predicted, "You shall live a thousand lifetimes so I shall not be forced to live without you."

"I am certain you would tire of me," he said, because everyone eventually tired of him. But Aria shook her head, blonde curls dancing. Sometimes, he imagined what she would look like at an older age. He could imagine her with a wrinkled smile and her bright eyes. Always though, she was beautiful.

"I would never tire of my little brother," she promised and kissed his cheek to seal the vow.

_Or is happiness a little more like knocking_ _On your door, and you just let it in?_

"Kolie?" There was a light knocking on his door before it swung open. There stood the impish Grecian his older brother was so fond of, her hair in messy braids with flowers haphazardly placed among the ebony locks.

"What do you want, Iolanthe?" he asked, watching with amusement as she carefully crept into his room as though it were rigged with traps that would spring and bite at her should she step on the wrong floorboard. Children were such peculiar little humans. He didn't understand why his brother was so taken with this one in particular.

"Finn would not help me," she said, "And I cannot find the others." She was referring to his family and Kol brushed off the twinge of pain he felt at the knowledge she had gone searching for the likes of Niklaus before she had come to him. He acted as though it did not affect him when, in reality, the fact a small child preferred the company of Nik to himself wounded him deeply. Was he such a monster that even a small child as curious as Iolanthe was kept away?

"What do you require help with?" he asked and watched her mouth screw up as she came to a halt a few feet from him.

"I would like," she said, but then stopped to reassess her request, "I would be grateful if you helped me in the changing of my name." Now that was the most peculiar request he had ever heard.

"You wish to change your name?" he asked and she nodded with vigor, braids flying and few flowers fell from her hair unnoticed.

"There are women in the village who tease me," she confessed and he imagined she had not told Finn this. His brother would have dealt with the situation. "They say I am unnatural," she continued, "That I am a witch with my eyes and foreign name. I would like to be less foreign. I would like to be…" She trailed off, her child's mind searching for the proper word.

"Normal?" he supplied and she nodded, eyes wide with anticipation at the name he would give her. Kol made a grand show of it, stroking his chin and flipping through books. The answer was obvious from the beginning, his Greek not as impressive as his brothers, but up to par when it came to translating the young girl's name that simply meant _violet flower._

"Does the name Violet suit you?" he inquired and was awarded with the delighted squeal of approval from Iolanthe, now called Violet. However, Kol had not expected the impish thing to run to his side and kiss his cheek before dashing from his room, no doubt to find Finn and inform him of her new name.

The flowers that fell from her hair remained on his floor until they turned to dust.

_Happiness, feels a lot like sorrow_ _Let it be, you can't make it come or go_

"Do you suppose she was ever happy with us?" Kol turned to regard his brother, who, for once, was not trying to dagger him. That were at a peace moment, one that would not last the way they never lasted.

"Who?" Kol asked, unable to read Klaus' mind the way Rebekah always seemed able to. The elder Original turned from where he was observing a gaggle of partygoers to carefully gauge his brother's reaction.

"Violet." Kol felt rather nauseated then, having not thought of Violet for centuries and with good reason. Elijah, some sixty years ago, had informed them that Violet had been made a vampire by Kol's hand and that Rose had taken care of her until the newborn decided she was capable of handling herself. Violet's path had crossed with Elijah enough times that they decided to travel for a brief time. Or, at least it was brief in an eternal lifetime.

To think Kol had cursed her to live eternally as a monster. To think it had been his hand to kill her and that he had not been there when she awoke. He was thankful in that moment Finn had been daggered by Klaus and was locked away in a coffin somewhere. Had his older brother been alive, Kol would be wise to fear for his life. Finn had always regarded Violet as a daughter and Kol had gone and turned her into a creature of the night. Family or not, Finn would have his vengeance should he ever learn the truth.

"I suppose she despises us," Kol said, "Or at least despises me. You were always her favorite." Klaus chuckled and knocked back the remainder of his drinking, rising to pursue a skirt that had caught his eye.

"No brother," he called over his shoulder, "That was always you."

_Gone for now, feels a lot like gone for good_

"Have you heard from her?" Kol asked Elijah as the two reunited in the city. The eldest of their family had a habit of coming and going as he pleased, trying to be more moral than his younger siblings. Had Finn been around, he would have been Elijah's travel companion of choice, but the Original was still locked away in a place only Klaus knew.

"Her?" Elijah asked, knowing full well who his brother was referring to. They had reached a silent agreement, all of them, that Violet was never to be mentioned by name, referred to instead as only "her."

"You know," Kol stressed, not wanting to speak her name aloud. He always felt violently ill when he did.

"I have not heard from her," Elijah said, "The last we saw each other she had every intention of returning to Greece to find her family. They were never fond of her in life, but she does not care. She was insistent she discover what fate befell them all."

"Do you suppose she is still there?" The eldest Original leveled his gaze at his younger brother who almost squirmed.

"Would you go to her if she were?" Kol did not answer. He needn't. Everyone knew the answer.

_Happiness was never mine to hold_

"Another lover?" Rebekah taunted, "This is the third this week! Can't you hold onto anyone longer than a day? You're worse than Nik."

"Thank you sister," Kol spat, "It's comforting to know you pay such careful attention to by sexual exploits. Not having enough of your own?" He dodged the shoe tossed his way and cursed the minds who had decided women needed to wear shoes with heels. Why couldn't they return to a time where shoes were flat soled? Or perhaps to a time when there was no need for shoes?

"At least you're playing nice this time," she shouted after him, "We all know there's not another Violet in the world who could take your abuse."

Klaus had been there to stop his attack, breaking his neck with an ease earned after spending years snapping Finn's neck so he could sleep without nightmares. Finn, who still rested in a coffin somewhere entirely oblivious to the damage Kol had inflicted on his precious, darling Violet.

Kol awoke sometime later. He did not take another lover for a month. Then he saw a woman with dark hair and gray eyes. She was too tall and her smile was wrong. After he was done with her, he broke her neck.

She didn't wake up.

_Happiness, damn near destroys you_ _Breaks your faith, to pieces on the floor_

"Your betrothed has left you?" Kol asked in disbelief, settling carefully on the edge of Aria's bed as Finn stood guard at the door. His brother was not good at consoling. Tender words were not his forte.

"He chose another," she sobbed, her girlish voice rising in pitch as the hysteria began to set in. Kol did not understand why girls were forced to marry at such a young age when their husbands were often much older. He would never take interest in a younger woman. It was unfair.

"Then that is his great loss," Kol reasoned, gently touching her hand and she latched onto it, pulling his arm around her. He followed suit and embraced her, stroking her hair as she sobbed in his arms.

"As your little brother," he said, "Shall I injure the man who harmed you? I am certain I could wreak considerable damage." Aria laughed, the desired response he had gone for. He was familiar with her betrothed, a lumbering man who would have easily squashed the fifteen year old Kol. It was an obscene idea, but a humorous one, and so long as Aria stopped crying, Kol was happy.

"No, no," she said, "He would ruin your pretty face and then you would never have any luck with the girls. It is not as though you have a charming disposition like your brothers." They both laughed then and out of the corner of his eye, Kol could see Finn smiling as he observed their affectionate banter. Kol often wondered why his brother was not Aria's betrothed. They would be an excellent match and she would, at last, be Kol's sister.

"I can be very charming," Kol protested and Aria grinned, a wicked, impish grin.

"Yes," she agreed, "Like a wolf."

It was Klaus who grew up to be the wolf. Kol was forced to become a silver-tongued snake.

_Let it go, live your life and leave it_

"You're leaving?" Rebekah watched Kol adjust his hat as he stepped towards the door of their home. It was Boston in the wintertime and the sleet was falling heavily outside. He turned back to face her, committing the memory of her in trousers to memory. Trousers would never become fashion for ladies, of this he was certain.

"Yes," he said because there was nothing else to say.

"Where will you go?" He shrugged, the horribly human habit he had not been able to break, and tried to smile as though where he was headed was of no importance.

"I thought I would begin with Greece," he said and Rebekah's eyes narrowed.

"Have you considered she does not want to be found?"

"And have you considered she might?" The blonde rolled her eyes before darting forward and coming to stand before him.

"What will you do when you find her?" she asked and Kol did not hesitate, having perfectly planned their reunion in his mind.

"I will pretend I do not know her," he said, "And hope she does not remember me."

"And then what?"

"Then," he said, but paused. He had never spoken these words aloud, only ever replaying them in his head as though they would manifest in reality somehow.

"Then I will make her fall in love with me."

_Then one day, wake up and she'll be home_

Kol rested on his bed, Rebekah and Klaus tending to the funeral preparations for Violet. It was not common to hold a ceremony in honor of a dead vampire, but she had been more than a vampire in life, and so she would be more than one in death.

"If you're here," he whispered into the dark, his words a mere breath on his lips as he heard Rebekah pass his door, "If you're here, please stay. I am most certain Aria haunts Finn and if you can find her, perhaps she could teach you how to haunt me. It will be easy to find her. She is just as you always were. Beautiful. Full of light."

The Original brothers were always being attracted to the light. Like a family of moths drawn to the flame. Perhaps Fate was trying to tell them something. Perhaps.

**a/n: **Sometimes I wish I had video/graphic making skills because I have a feeling a lot could be done with these fics.

And because I've never mentioned it before, if you're looking for a visual of Aria and Violet, I imagine Sophia Myles as Aria and Astrid Berges-Frisbey as Violet.

Make me pretty graphics of Faria/Kiolet and I'll love you forever… and probably write you a fic.

Fave, flame, faint.

_[song fic inspired by "Happiness" by The Fray]_

_oxox_


End file.
